Bottle-capper



L. M, HOUSE.

BOTTLE CAPPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 24, 1919.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

El I /72ye for.

M n. @Mfw L. M. ROU$E. BOTTLE CAPPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 24, I9I9.

M a a ll'lzvl m aria/I74 To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BOTTLE-GAPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

Application filed September 24, 1919. Serial No. 326,066.

Be-it known that I, LOVELL M. Bones, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Portland, in the county of Multnomah, in the State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Cappers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to bottle cappers, and has for its object the production of a simple, highly efficient, and comparatively inexpensive machine for securing a sealingcap to the mouth of a bottle.

lVhat constitutes my invention will be hereinafter specified in detail and succinctly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure I is a side elevation of my invention in present preferred form of embodiment, showing the parts thereof in their initial position in respect to their operation, the handle being broken away.

Fig. II 's a front elevation of the subject matter of Fig. I, the bottle neck and cap shownin Fig. I being omitted, and the bottle-retaining shackle being shown as open.

Fig. III is a view similar to Fig. I, but

partially in section'and showing the working parts of the device at their limit of movement in completing a capping operation.

Fig. IV is a horizontal section of my capper taken just above the bottle-supporting shelf, looking downwardly and showing the bottle-retain ng shackle thereof closed.

Fig. V is a view similar to Fig. IV, showing the bottle-retaining shackle and its locking (log open.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates a frame piece which is provided with suitable means of attaching it to a supporting member, such, for example, as lugs 2 provided, respectively, with screwholes 3. Any suitable object which will afford stable support to the frame 1 may be employed as a supporting member for it.

The frame 1 is provided, at its upper end, with a fulcrum piece 4, preferably consisting of a pair of ears, and at its lower end with a shelf 5. Between the fulcrum piece 4 and the shelf 5, and located in operative disposition toward each, I provide a guidebarrel 7. The parts 4, 5 and 7 are preferably made integral with the frame 1.

The barrel 7 is provided for the accommodation and guidance of a plunger 8 which reciprocates within it and which carries a downwardly opening capping-member 9, which, being for the most part substantially cylindrical, terminates below in a flared end or bell-mouth 10. The capping-member 9 is inserted within the plunger 8 that is preferably annular, as is clearly shown, for example, in Fig. III. The plunger comprises a cross-bar 11 that is provided at its upper end, and against which the capping-member 9 is firmly seated.

The office of the plunger 8 requiring that it shall have a true and steady movement toward the shelf 5, I refer to provide guide extensions 12 upon t e barrel 7 and corresponding guide members 13 upon opposite ends of the cross-bar 11. The provision of the parts 12 and 13 affords amply extended guides for the reciprocation of the plunger 8 between its extreme limits of movement.

The members 7 and 8 are preferably made of different metals selected with a view to reduce friction and wear between them in operation.

To the fulcrum-piece 4 is pivoted, as indicated at 15, a handle 16. Said handle is provided with a lug 17 that is pivoted, as indicated at 18, between a pair of ears 19 on one end of a link 20, whose other end carries a pair of ears 21 that straddle the cross-bar 11, and are pivoted through it to the plunger 8 as indicated at 23.

The relative disposition and manner of connection between the parts which unite the plunger 8 to the fulcrum-piece 4 constitute with the handle 16 a powerful togglelever which operates to depress the plunger 8 under downward movement of the handle 16 that is limited by a stop-piece 25 projecting from the frame 1 in the path of the lug 17.

The shelf 5 is provided with a curved recess 26, having a seat 27 against which, in operation. a bead or projection 28 upon a bottle neck 29 fits and is pillowed. T re recess 26 is open on one side, as is best shown in Fig. V, and having an extent preferably somewhat greater than a half-circle, affords in the shelf 5 itself a solid support to the bead 28 of the bottle neck 29. I prefer, nevertheless, to provide a bottle-retaining shackle 30, hinged as indicated at 31, between lugs 32 projecting from one side of the shelf 5. The shackle 30 is, at one end, provided with a reduced hinge-member 33 which works between the lugs 32 and permits the shackle, when closed, to complete the circle of the seat 27, it being provided with a segment 35 that is complementary to the recess 26 and the circular contour of the seat 27.

A nose 36 extends from the end of the shackle opposite its hinge member 33 into operative engagement between lugs 37 on the shelf 5. Upon the side of the seat 27 that is opposite the lugs 32, a locking-dog 39 is hinged, as indicated at 40 between the lugs 37. It is provided with a notch 41 that engages the nose 36 when the shackle 30 is closed, as clearly shown in Fig. IV, thereby serving to lock the shackle in place and to confine a bottle neck, as indicated by 29. It has been observed that the shackle 30 is not absolutely essential to the confinement of the bottleneck to its seat 27, although it is usually desirable to employ it for that purpose. It is, nevertheless, of importance to make the shelf 5 sufficiently rigid for the performance of the ofiice of a supporting member, and to do this I prefer to provide a shelf 5 of a shape and rigidity calculated to support the bead 28 of the bottle neck independently of the shackle 30, which, being a hinged member, would, in a short space of time,'sag, and thereby disturb the accuracy. of presentation of the beaded bottle mouth 43 to the capping-member 9, which it is the office of the bottle-holding shelf 5 to effect.

45 indicates a bottle-sealing cap, the wellknown crown cap being the one at present preferred. The cap 45 is provided with a skirt 46 which is, before setting in place, widely flared, as indicated in Fig. I, so as readily to receive the bottle-mouth 43, and which is crimped about the bead of the bottle-mouth by the descent of the cappingmember 9, as shown in Fig. III.

The method of applying and setting a sealing-cap of the crown type is well known in the art, and appears to require, in view of the drawings, no more description than that which has just been offered.

In operation, the shackle 30 being open, as shown in Figs. II and V, a bottle neck is introduced into the recess 26 in such manner as to set its bead 28 firmly upon the seat 27. The shackle 30 may then be closed and secured by the dog 39, the nose 36 of the shackle and the notch 41 of the dog being preferably large and easy of adjustment so as to facilitate the operations of opening and closing the shackle and of introducing and seating a bottle neck within the recess 26 of the shelf 5.

As often as a bottle neck is introduced and seated within the recess 26 with a cap witnesses.

45 in place over its mouth 43,'as shown in Fig. I, the machine is ready to do its work. \Vhereupon, the handle 16 being depressed, actuates the plunger 8 to crimp the skirt 46 of the cap around the bead of the mouth 43. so as to secure the cap in place, the bottle being entirely supported in presentation to the capping-member 9 by its bead 28, there by reducing liability to breakage of bottles in capping to a minimum.

As has been specified, a true presentation of the capping-member 9 to the bottle mouth 43 is necessary to enable the capping-member properly to perform itsfunction. To this end, the construction of the uide barrel and plunger effectually contribute, while the handle 16, through its toggle-lever connection with the plunger, affords ample power for the operation of the machine without strain upon the machine or unnecessary effort upon the operators part.

The stop-piece 25 operates not only to limit the descentof the free end of the handle 16, but, in a. more important particular, to indicate to an operator when the limit of downward'movement of the plunger 8 is reached. The said limit of movement is imposed by the sweep of the handle 16 upon its pivot 15, but the presence of the stop-piece serves as specified for an indicator.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In a bottle capper, a. 'frame piece, a capping member supported on said frame,

means on said frame for operating said capping member, a shelf for supporting a bottle by its neck beneath said capping member,

\said shelf comprising an'annular closed seat formed of a pair of relatively movable sectlons, one of said sections belng rigidly related to said frame and comprising more than 180 of said seat.

- ing the movement of said handle to actuate said plunger, ashelf for supporting a bottle by its neck beneath said capping member,

said shelf comprising an annular closed seat formed of a. pair of relativel movable sections, one of said sections being rigidly related to said frame and comprising more than 180 of said seat.

I In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the'presence of two subscribing LOVELL M. ROUSE. Witnesses:

' JOSEPH L. ATKINS, Jenn B. CLELAND. 

